254 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [Nov. 



highly foolish to waste money in reprinting these rules, if they are to 

 be supplanted by others in a few weeks. If the final decision, however, 

 is to be protracted much beyond the date of the Annual Meeting, the 

 present rules must be reprinted. 



He would, therefore, ask the Society to adopt the plan recommend- 

 ed by the Council, under which the rules as proposed would be circu- 

 lated for discussion in full time to hold the final voting on the question 

 at the Annual Meeting in January. 



This was put to the vote and carried. 



The President then called on Mr. V. Ball to read his paper, On the 

 Flora of Manbhum, of which the following is an abstract. 



Previous knowledge of the Flora of Manbhum refers only to the 

 northern portion of the district (in the vicinity of the grand trunk 

 road), which has been visited by Dr. Hooker, Dr. T. Anderson, and 

 others. 



The district forms portions of three of Dr. Hooker's botanical pro- 

 vinces Behar, Bengal and Orissa. 



The physical characters of Manbhum which exercise a marked 

 influence on the flora, may be most clearly comprehended by dividing 

 the district into a series of six zones. 



The general aspect presented by the flora is disappointing : instead 

 of finding a realization of one's ideal of a tropical jungle, the scenery 

 is often excessively tame, and in the drier and cleared portions, almost 

 park-like. 



In the nearest approach to typical tropical jungle, that occurring 

 on the hills of the Dhalbhum frontier, there are no tree-ferns or palms 

 and but few mosses, orchids, or herbaceous ferns. The character of the 

 foliage and inflorescence are briefly described in the paper. 



The vegetation of the low flat lands is susceptible of a four-fold 

 division, according to the character of the ground which supports it ; 

 lists of the characteristic species are given. 



Land which has been cleared for cultivation, it is remarkable to 

 notice, has a flora of its own, both the trees and herbaceous plants 

 being quite distinct from those found in the original jungle. Al- 

 though the land may relapse into jungle, the occurrence of these 

 species marks its antecedents. 



